The Lutheran Book of Worship (LBW) 21 Years Later
her touch that they had loved for over 20 years before. Therefore, most congregations prefer to only use the first two settings of worship for the liturgy, and it is regretted that no information was listed on the historic Lutheran melodies for people to learn.
Regina Fryxell died in 1993 knowing that she had made a difference in our church with her work for SBH, but she had a broken heart over what they had done to her work in the LBW. Her work for LBW did resurface in 1995 and was published by an individual, but was rejected by the ELCA's own publishing house (AugsburgFortress) for publication. The publishing house feels that the ELCA needs to be more multi-ethnic; holding onto the past is not in their best interest.
MATINS AND VESPERS
These orders were written by Richard Hillert, and again contain difficult music to sing for congregations. The texts were modified from the former hymnals in the Lutheran church, and a service of light was added to the Vespers. Simple chants were replaced with unison melody lines that are too complex for the average congregation to handle. Very few congregations use the morning matins or night vesper service.
CANTICLES
The LBW offers about 20 canticles to be sung at various times of the year. These were written with unison lines again instead of four-part harmony. The two most popular canticles in the LBW have been: "Listen, You Nations of the World" and "Keep in Mind that Jesus Christ Has Died." These are very simple, meaningful melodies that congregations have learned and retained. The other pieces offer some difficulty in singing, especially the canticle written by LCMS composer Jan Bender.
HYMNS
The most drastic change in ELCA Lutheran worship over the years has been the hymns in the LBW. Beloved favorites were either omitted from the hymnal or retained, but modernized in text or harmony. Some hymns were almost unrecognizable in their new forms, and have not appealed to congregational singing since the LBW's inception.
Some things were adjusted and made easier to the eye. The layout on the page was improved for easier singing versus the repeat marks that the SBH was saddled with. Titles of the hymn appeared on the tops of the pages for easier identification, versus a topic line in SBH. Many standard hymns in LBW were transposed down a few steps to enable men to sing some of the higher pitches
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